Planning Efforts

On the evening of Wednesday, April 26, approximately 60 people attended the fourth meeting for the MGRA/MGVC planning project hosted at the visitor center. This meeting summarized the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area (MGRA) planning process to date and kicked off the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center Unit (MGVC) master planning effort.

Brad Orr (District Ranger) and John Neary (MGVC Director) welcomed attendees and gave a summary of the larger two year planning effort for the MGRA and the MGVC.

Chris Mertl with Corvus Design gave a brief overview of the larger MGRA planning effort and the need to create a long term vision for the area. He introduced the master planning efforts for the MGVC Unit which focuses on making short term facility recommendations based on the MGRA long range planning effort and work to be developed at the MGVC.

As part of the introduction, the public was asked to introduce themselves and to indicate “if you were to bring a cruise ship passenger to the MGVC Unit, where is the first place you would take them to highlight the unit’s facilities and opportunities.” Responses were varied and all facilities within would be considered highlights of the MGVC Unit. Those with the most responses include:

Visitor Center

Steep Creek Trail (especially bear viewing area)

Trail of Time

Nugget Falls and Nugget Falls Trail

Photo Point Trail

Mendenhall Lake (especially in winter)

Public Input

The meeting included two exercises to receive public input on the MGVC master planning effort and to kick off this phase of work. Attendees were asked to break into smaller groups of 6-8 and to work together to discuss opportunities to incorporate innovation into the facility planning for the MGVC and to also identify areas within the MGVC that were currently being impacted or could possibly be impacted related to facilities, visitor experience and the surrounding resources.

Exercise #1: Innovation

Attendees were asked to break into small groups or round-tables to discuss opportunities for incorporating innovation into the planning effort for the MGVC. Individual tables were set up with their own area of focus and participants were encouraged to provide input at the table of most interest but to also circulate and visit other groups to provide input. The innovation areas of focus were divided into the following groups:

Sustainable Buildings

Transit and Transportation

Sustainable Tourism

Renewable Energy

Interpretation

Recreation

Once the ideas were presented, the groups were asked to identify those that they believed were the highest priority innovation opportunities. A summary of the innovation listed is found below. Those with an asterisk (*) were identified as priorities but does not diminish the importance of the other innovation listed.

Transit and Transportation

Off site transit center with circulator to the area*

Provide peddle powered options*

Do away with buses Juneau wide by working with CBJ on light rail studies to show ridership is the limited factor to development, so require tour operators to use light rail. 1 million plus visitor is twice the amount needed to fund development*

Make the walk from the buses to visitor center spectacular: maybe raised walkway with view, electric or peddle powered boats to get to now receded glacier, access to rock point to access West glacier interpretive trail

Electric buses on a time schedule, similar to Denali Park

Quiet and pollution free busses

Charging stations for electric vehicles

Tram to upper elevators “to the ice”

Boat to Satellite Visitor Center on Rocky Point, or gondola from current visitor center to Rocky Point

Wildlife under/over passes

Provide bus drop and load route separate from all other traffic

East Glacier trailing head parking off site

Circulator brings folks to Visitors Center

Sustainable Tourism

Build and maintain a hut that hikers and overnight in (like the Alps) a series of hut to huts overlooking glacier*

Electric launches for transport across lake to ranger station and access to glacier.

Once ice is no long on lake, build a road on the left side for electric shuttle to ice interpretive center ice edge

Clean gavel out on Nugget Dam, install small hydro power station to make MGVC self sustaining for power

Spur trail of East Glacier to next ridge (bridge rebuilt over Nugget Creek) so glacier will be in view 50+ more years

Dispersed visitor areas

Provide new access point to view glacier that is either close or above

Put a Forest Service cabin on the rock peninsula with a view of the glacier

Information on mining ruins and activities on trails

Limit the season

Charging station for electric buses

Increase winter tourism

Renewable Energy

The primary reason for not developing light rail between the valley and town is insufficient ridership. Partner with CBJ to develop light rail to the glacier to do away with bus traffic, allowing the 1 million visitor to pay/support essential changes*

Exercise #2: Areas of Impact

Attendees were again asked to break into small groups or round-tables to identify areas that are currently being impacted within the MGVC or could be impacted. Discussion was categorized into three areas of impacts. Impacts to facilities, impacts to visitor experience, and impacts to the natural resources/environment. Impacts were located and notated on large scale maps of the MGVC. Participants were asked to identify the severity of the existing impact (1-minor, 2-moderate, 3-significant) and to identify the corrective action for each: minor construction, major construction, maintenance or management. Images of the session and maps created are found below.

The meeting concluded by thanking those who participated and directing attendees to this website for project updates and announcements.

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